A Conversation for Ging Gang Goolie - a Scouting Song

Myth "Baden-Powell originator of Ging gang goolie"? Yes, presumably so

Post 1

Ging gang researcher

There are some possible myths re "Ging gang goolie".
Discussion takes place at Wikipedia, please feel invited. smiley - run
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Songs


Myth "Baden-Powell originator of Ging gang goolie"? Yes, presumably so

Post 2

Icy North

Thank you, mystery GGG researcher, and welcome to h2g2 smiley - smiley

This was one of the first edited entries I wrote. I just dug out my original research notes, and the BP authorship claim came from trusted websites rather than primary sources. I'll have a look over the weekend to see if I can track down anything more solid, otherwise I guess I'll have to update this h2g2 article.

Thank you for bringing this to my attention.

smiley - cheers Icy


Myth "Baden-Powell originator of Ging gang goolie"? Yes, presumably so

Post 3

Ging gang researcher

Hi Icy,
Good that you are still interested.
Am looking forward to something solid and stable so we might move universe together.
Any reference that shows the songĀ“s migration would be of interest, now that we (me and my twin brother and the Swedish Royal Library = official Swedish document archive since 1661, heritage from another century beyond that) know that the song existed already 1905 (Scandinavian spelling, same music).
We hint in the "Ging gang goolie" Talk referred to, that the song might have entered the global Scout movement via scout song books 1924 in Denmark and Sweden (yes, the 2nd World Jamboree 1924 took place in Denmark) and that the erliest English speaking scout song book picks up the song 1957 in UK (yes, the 9th World Jamboree 1957 took place in UK). We get hints from the web that the song might have been sung in English speaking country early 1950-ies.
Of course we would be delighted to find out about history before 1905, now that it is very highly improbable that Baden-Powell was involved at all (ref Wikipedia Talk: UK Scouting Association statement and references that the song was already sung in the 1890-ies by Swedish students).
Gothenburg, Sweden, was (and is) a major port with connections all over the place and had since the 1840-ies an amusement park with cabarets, theatre, circus, restaurants and - of course - some sin. Culture and entertainment flowed both ways across frontiers, entertainers came from all over the world. This amusement park, Lorensberg, carried on until around the 1950-ies. It was in this park that the so far earliest documented performance of this song took place 1905. smiley - smiley


Myth "Baden-Powell originator of Ging gang goolie"? Yes, presumably so

Post 4

Ging gang researcher

CORRECTION!
The right URL to the discussion on wikipedia is of course
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Ging_Gang_Goolie
Sorry about that.


Myth "Baden-Powell originator of Ging gang goolie"? Yes, presumably so

Post 5

Icy North

Thanks - that's fascinating research you're doing - well done!

I'm considering a wording change to this h2g2 article which will reference the fact that you're still researching this. I'll post here when I've decided what to do.

What would be good, however, would be to have the Scout Association approve the final results of your research, and have it stored on their website, rather than on an ephemeral source such as Wikipedia (Although this could of course cite it).

An even better alternative would be to send your research to the acedemic journal Notes and Queries. (I searched this earlier but found no reference to the song) There may be other folk-song-related journals too which would find this interesting. If I think of any I'll post them here.

Good luck with it!

smiley - cheers Icy


Myth "Baden-Powell originator of Ging gang goolie"? Yes, presumably so

Post 6

Ging gang researcher

Hi Icy, thanks a lot for your comments and suggestions! smiley - ok


Myth "Baden-Powell originator of Ging gang goolie"? Yes, presumably so

Post 7

Icy North

Actually, I'm not sure Notes & Queries is the best journal for this sort of thing - they tend to go for archaic language and linguistics.

These may be better. Why not e-mail them and ask smiley - smiley

The Folklore Society
http://www.folklore-society.com/

International Council for Traditional Music
http://www.ictmusic.org/

The English Folk Dance and Song Society
http://www.efdss.org/


Myth "Baden-Powell originator of Ging gang goolie"? Yes, presumably so

Post 8

Ging gang researcher

Thanks a lot, Icy!smiley - cheers


Myth "Baden-Powell originator of Ging gang goolie"? Yes, presumably so

Post 9

Ging gang researcher

smiley - smiley I have approached the folklore organisations mentioned above as well as another ones (for UK, Scandinavia, and international) and asked about their interest in publishing our findings on their resources (web, journal); no replies so far.
Then I wonder, Icy, what were the trusted websites from which you got "the BP authorship claim", so we (me and my twin) can approach them to find out if they might have any primary sources re early origin, and early migration into the English speaking world?


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